Simple Answer Is Worth Dollar or Two

“Visionary With a 15-Cent Plan for Peace,” the Dec. 20 “L.A. Stories” column, started this way:

“I was gnawing on a $6 turkey sandwich the other day at a local eatery--wondering why a turkey sandwich cost $6--when he walked in.”

Writer Rip Rense is in an eatery, and he wonders why a sandwich is $6? The answer is glitz. Packaging. Pretense.

Were you to go to a coffee shop, the same sandwich might run in the neighborhood of $4. A local deli-- the real kind, not the New Age, trendy kind--would charge about $5. The eatery comes in at $6 and a bistro is upward of $7.

If you doubt me, compare the price of a cup of coffee at these places. You’ll see.

VIRGINIA LESTER MARSH

San Pedro